PHILADELPHIA -- From where Doug Collins was seated, a few rows behind Duke's bench, he had every opportunity to glance over at Louisville's Kevin Ware.

"I didn't see it," Collins said. "Didn't want to."

The 76ers coach, who traveled to Indianapolis for Sunday's NCAA Tournament game between Louisville and Duke, said he had no desire to look at Ware, the Louisville player who sustained a gruesome leg fracture in the first half.

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Collins lauded the folks who operate the video board at Lucas Oil Stadium, saying it was a smart decision on their part in opting against showing a replay.

"The looks on the players' faces, of seeing their teammate go down ... it was a horrific injury and there you were, in an arena with all of that emotion and all of the sudden, it was unreal," Collins said. "It was quiet in there and, obviously, you had to make sure he got the proper medical care because, with an open wound like that, you have to be concerned with infection."

Ware, a sophomore guard, underwent surgery in Indianapolis hours after Louisville had defeated Duke to advance to the Final Four.

Speaking of finality, Collins' purpose in making the trip was to see his son, Chris, an associate head coach at Duke whose tenure on Tobacco Road has concluded. Chris Collins, hired last week as Northwestern's head coach, will be formally introduced today.

"I went to his first game when he played," Doug Collins said of his son, who played for Duke from 1992-96, "and I went down there yesterday with two things in mind: If they won, to be able to give him a hug and send him to another Final Four. But if not, I wanted to be there for his last game at Duke, when he walked off the court. It was important for me to do that. I said, 'There's a 38-year-old man walking into a new life.'"

The aftershock of Ware's injury made its way to PCOM, where a few of the Sixers spoke after practice Monday about what they saw on television a day earlier.

"Any time you see an injury like that, it's heartbreaking," Thaddeus Young said.

Other than on replay shows, Jrue Holiday said he hadn't witnessed anything comparable to Ware's injury.

"Other than on TV, no, not like that," he said. "(I'm just) praying for him, his family and some kind of peace. You hate to see that for any athlete."